Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood

From ancient Rome, where gladiators drank the blood of vanquished foes to gain strength and courage, to modern-day laboratories, where machines test blood for diseases and scientists search for elusive cures, Bill Hayes takes us on a whirlwind journey through history, literature, mythology, and science by way of the great red river that runs five quarts strong through our bodies. As much a biography of blood as it is a memoir of how this rich substance has shaped one man’s life, Five Quarts is by turns whimsical and provocative, informative and moving.

Reviews:

“Playful and powerful . . .profoundly moving . . . Hayes writes with so much panache that reading this book is thrilling.”— The Boston Globe

“Bill Hayes is on his way to becoming one of those rare authors who can tackle just about any subject in book form, and make you glad he did. . . . [Five Quarts is] a breezy ride of a book that . . . equips even a casual reader with the knowledge to gain new insights into life.”— San Francisco Chronicle

“Hayes’s fascination with scientific discovery is matched by his unerring sense for the right phrase, the right anecdote, to draw others into his delight and wonder.”— The Advocate

“The perfect gift for the phlebotomist in your life.”— Newsweek (Top Pick of the Week)